Well packing apparatus



Feb. 21, 1967 M. P. LEBOURG 0 WELL PACKING APPARATUS Filed June 11, 1964-2 Sheets-Sheet 1 .26 avg INVENTOR.

ATTORA/EV Feb. 21, 1967 M. P. LEBOURG 3,305,020

WELL PACKING APPARATUS Filed. June 11, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Mal/rue f.Zebu/r51 INVENTOR.

L-/MMQ ,4 rraxawz y I rection will bring one or the other of the mandrelshoulders 63, 64 into engagement with its corresponding piston memberand shift that piston to increase the hydraulic pressure further. Itwill be realized of course that this increase of hydraulic pressure willbe proportionately related to the extent of longitudinal movement of themandrel 18.

Turning now to the operation of the bridge plug 16, whenever the bridgeplug has been positioned at a desired point in the well bore, the tubingstring 11 is lowered slightly, slowly rotated to the right and thenpicked up a short distance as it is rotating. This action successivelyrotates the J-pins 40 of the overshot 14 into the bottom of the openportion of the ]-slots 39 in the fishing neck 15 and then engages theJ-pins against downwardly facing shoulders formed in one side of theopen slot portions. The lug 23 is simultaneously shifted into alignmentwith the longitudinal portion 25 of T-groove 24 on the mandrel 18. Oncethe lug 23 moves into this longitudinal slot portion 25, the upwardtravel of the tubing 11 will carry the mandrel 18 upwardly as well. Asthe mandrel moves, mandrel shoulder 64 will engage the lower piston 60and shift it upwardly to increase the hydraulic pressure acting on theanchor 27. Upper piston member 59 is of course forced upwardly againstthe housing shoulder 61 by this pressure increase. This concerted actionsets the anchor 27 and allows the overshot 14 to be released from thefishing neck 15. The tubing 11 is rotated slightly to the left and thenpulled upwardly to remove the overshot 14 and, as previously described,shift the sliding valve member 42 upwardly to close the equalizing ports41. The upward travel of the mandrel 18 will also move the port 55upwardly out of registration with the port 54.

As soon as the overshot 14 has been removed from the fishing neck 15 andthe slidable valve member 42 pulled upwardly to close the equalizingports 41, whatever pressure differential there is across the packingcups 20, 21 will act against the concave side of one of these cups topress it into sealing engagement against the casing.

It will be appreciated, therefore, that after the equalizing ports 41are closed, should the pressure in the well bore above the bridge plug16 be greater than the pressure below, the pressure differential actingon the upper end of the mandrel 18 will tend to shift the mandreldownwardly. Downward shifting of the mandrel 18, of course, drives theupper slidable piston member 59 further downwardly, which action willfurther increase the hydraulic pressure within the system to press thecasing-engaging members 29, 30 of the anchor 27 even more tightlyagainst the well casing. It will be realized, of course, that thedeveloped hydraulic pressure will be proportionately related to thepressure differential.

Should, perchance, the pressure in the well bore below the bridge plug16 becomes greater than that thereabove, the mandrel 18 will similarlybe shifted upwardly. As the mandrel 18 shifts upwardly, the hydraulicpressure will be momentarily reduced as the hydraulic fluid forces theupper piston member 59 upwardly against housing shoulder 61. As themandrel 18 continues to travel upwardly, however, the lower slidablepiston member 60 is quickly engaged by the lower mandrel shoulder 64which shifts this piston upwardly. This upward movement will, of course,again increase the hydraulic pressure within the fluid-filled system tomaintain the casing-engaging members 29, 30 tightly pressed against thewell casing.

Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the present invention providesnew and improved packing apparatus having hydraulically actuatedwall-engaging members. These members are arranged to be pressed intoanchoring engagement with a well casing with a force proportionatelyrelated to whatever pressure differential is acting across the packingapparatus. Furthermore, this new and improved well-packing apparatus iscapable of being releasably anchored in a packed-off condition to resistextreme pressure differentials acting from either longitudinaldirection.

While a particular embodiment of the present invention has been shownand described, it is apparent that changes and modifications may be madewithout departing from this invention in its broader aspects and,therefore, the aim in the appended claims is to cover all such changesand modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of thisinvention.

What is claimed is:

1. A well packer sized and adapted for reception in a Well bore forpacking-off the well bore comprising: an outer tubular member; a bodymember telescopically arranged and slidably disposed within said outermember and operatively arranged to shift longitudinally relative theretoin response to a differential of fluid pressure above and below saidmembers in a well bore; first and second annular elastomeric packer cupsmounted around one of said members and having their enlarged portionsfacing in opposite directions and their reduced portions adjacent oneanother; valve means responsive .to shifting of said body member forselectively providing fluid communication across said packer cupsbetween said oppositely facing portions and said reduced portionswhenever said body member is in one position relative to said outermember and blocking this fluid communication whenever said body membershifts longitudinally to another position relativev to said outermember; anchoring means for securing said packer against movementrelative to the well bore including outwardly-extendible wall-engagingmeans mounted on said outer member and fluidly sealed relative theretoto provide a fluid-tight space therebetween, said wall-engaging meansbeing adapted for extension into engagement with the well bore uponapplication of hydraulic pressure in said fluid-tight space; andhydraulic means responsive to shifting of said body member from said oneposition for applying a hydraulic pressure in said fluidtight space topress said wall-engaging means into anchoring engagement with a forceproportionately related to said pressure differential.

2. A well packer sized and adapted for reception in a well bore forpacking-off the well bore comprising: an outer tubular member; a bodymember telescopically arranged and slidably disposed within said outermember and operatively arranged to shift longitudinally relative theretoin response to a differential of fluid pressure above and below saidmembers in a well bore; first and second annular elastomeric packer cupsmounted around said outer member and having their enlarged portionsfacing in opposite directions and their reduced portions adjacent oneanother; valve means responsive to shifting of said body member forselectively providing fluid communication across said packer cupsbetween said oppositely facing portions and said reduced portionswhenever said body member is in one position relative to said outermember and blocking this fluid communication whenever said body membershifts longitudinally to another position relative to said outer member,said valve means including first passage means providing fluidcommunication from the annulus between said telescoped members to theexterior of said adjacent reduced portions of said packer cups, andsecond passage means providing fluid communication from said annulus tothe exterior of said other member at a point longitudinally displacedfrom said packer cups; anchoring means for securing said packer againstmovement relative to the well bore including outwardly-extendiblewall-engaging means mounted on said outer member and fluidly sealedrelative thereto to provide a fluid-tight space therebetween, saidwall-engaging means being adapted for extension into engagement with thewell bore upon application of hydraulic pressure in said fluid-tightspace; and hydraulic means responsive to shifting of said body memberfor applying a hydraulic pressure in said fluid- ,tight space to presssaid wall-engaging means into anchoring engagement with a forceproportionately related to said pressure differential including a pistonmember slidably disposed Within the bore of said tubular member andadapted to be advanced therein by said body member whenever said bodymember shifts in one direction, first means fluidly sealing said tubularmember bore at a point longitudinally spaced from said piston member insaid one direction, second means fluidly sealing said piston member forproviding a fluid-tight chamber in said tubular member bore intermediatesaid piston member and said longitudinally displaced point, and thirdpassage means providing fluid communication between said fluidtightchamber and said fluid-tight space, said fluid-tight chamber and spacebeing filled with a hydraulic fluid.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 further including a second piston memberspaced from said first-mentioned piston member and slidably disposedwithin said tubular mem- References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATESPATENTS 2,925,128 2/1960 Page 166-121 2,970,649 2/1961 Brown 166-4213,119,450 1/1964 Evans 166-121 X 3,158,202 11/1964 Lewis et a1. 166121CHARLES E. OCONNELL, Primary Examiner.

D. H. BROWN, Assistant Examiner.

1. A WELL PACKER SIZED AND ADAPTED FOR RECEPTION IN A WELL BORE FORPACKING-OFF THE WELL BORE COMPRISING: AN OUTER TUBULAR MEMBER; A BODYMEMBER TELESCOPICALLY ARRANGED AND SLIDABLY DISPOSED WITHIN SAID OUTERMEMBER AND OPERATIVELY ARRANGED TO SHIFT LONGITUDINALLY RELATIVE THERETOIN RESPONSE TO A DIFFERENTIAL OF FLUID PRESSURE ABOVE AND BELOW SAIDMEMBERS IN A WELL BORE; FIRST AND SECOND ANNULAR ELASTOMERIC PACKER CUPSMOUNTED AROUND ONE OF SAID MEMBERS AND HAVING THEIR ENLARGED PORTIONSFACING IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS AND THEIR REDUCED PORTIONS ADJACENT ONEANOTHER; VALVE MEANS RESPONSIVE TO SHIFTING OF SAID BODY MEMBER FORSELECTIVELY PROVIDING FLUID COMMUNICATION ACROSS SAID PACKER CUPSBETWEEN SAID OPPOSITELY FACING PORTIONS AND SAID REDUCED PORTIONSWHENEVER SAID BODY MEMBER IS IN ONE POSITION RELATIVE TO SAID OUTERMEMBER AND BLOCKING THIS FLUID COMMUNICATION WHENEVER SAID BODY MEMBERSHIFTS LONGITUDINALLY TO ANOTHER POSITION RELATIVE TO SAID OUTER MEMBER;ANCHORING MEANS FOR SECURING SAID PACKER AGAINST MOVEMENT RELATIVE TOTHE WELL BORE INCLUDING OUTWARDLY-EXTENDIBLE WALL-ENGAGING MEANS MOUNTEDON SAID OUTER MEMBER AND FLUIDLY SEALED RELATIVE THERETO TO PROVIDE AFLUID-TIGHT SPACE THEREBETWEEN, SAID WALL-ENGAGING MEANS BEING ADAPTEDFOR EXTENSION INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH THE WELL BORE UPON APPLICATION OFHYDRAULIC PRESSURE IN SAID FLUID-TIGHT SPACE; AND HYDRAULIC MEANSRESPONSIVE TO SHIFTING OF SAID BODY MEMBER FROM SAID ONE POSITION FORAPPLYING A HYDRAULIC PRESSURE IN SAID FLUIDTIGHT SPACE TO PRESS SAIDWALL-ENGAGING MEANS INTO ANCHORING ENGAGEMENT WITH A FORCEPROPORTIONATELY RELATED TO SAID PRESSURE DIFFERENTIAL.